The Kitchenpiper hornpipe

I play this after Maggie’s Pancakes whenever I’m not around people who have an aversion to Scottish tunes. I got this from a fiddle player in Cambridge, but I’ve posted my own setting of it. The original version that was given to me is below:
K: Dmaj
AddA d2Ad|defd edBA|GBdg fedf|eAcB A2ef|
AddA d2Ad|defd edBA|gfeg fedf|1 eAce d2dB:|2 eAce defg||
aAAf AAdA|AfAA aAfA|GBdg fedf|eAcB A2fg|
aAAf AAdA|AfAA aAfA|gfeg fedf|eAce defg|
aAAf AAdA|AfAA aAfA|GBdg fedf|eAcB A2ef|
AddA d2Ad|defd edBA|gfeg fedf|eAce d2dB||

Bizarrely, our local uillean piper played this at a session last night - first time I’d heard it in about 4 years.

Shouldn’t bother anyone who’s “averse” to Scottish tunes. Composed by Neil Dickie - who’s Canadian.

Wow, would never have guessed - ta for the info Kenny.

Is it supposed to be played like a hornpipe then?

It is classed as a hornpipe, but bagpipe hornpipes are played “smoother”, flowing more like Irish reels.

Okay ta, I’ve changed the details. I play it like you said - the same rhythm and speed as I would play an Irish reel. That’s the way I’ve heard it played in sessions.

Click on the Kitchen Piper link on this page - the sound file’s quite good and they’ve done all the pipes ornamentation and everything: http://members.tripod.com/~McCoin_Geneology/index-34.html

I think I made a mistake here. I’ve been told that Neil Dickie was born in Scotland, although he’s been living in Canada for some time now. Sorry, Dow.

He’s composed some interesting tunes. Not only ‘’The Kitchenpiper‘’, but also the hornpipes ‘’The Clumsy Lover‘’ and ‘’Pattie‘’ and the air ‘’The Haunting‘’. Published one book called ‘’First Book‘’ in the ’80s.

Count Dickie classed it as a ‘’bossa nova‘’ tune, whatever that means, and one version of the third part had syncopation.

Highland pipers play some hornpipes in a more pointed fashion -‘’slow‘’ hornpipes, while many - especially of the newer ones - are composed to be played in a rounded fashion like Irish reels.

For more discussion on the hornpipe/reel issue, go here: https://thesession.org/tunes/7872.

Thank you for posting this… a Google search for this tune first led me to this site! It’s one of my favourites (one of those you use to drive everyone bananas). I love its feel of joyous abandon 🙂

I hadn’t noticed this before, but “Dr. Dow’s” setting only has 2 parts, which is incomplete. Version #3 posted by “JackB” is the original version as composed by Neil Dickie, and how it would be played by a Highland piper.

Oops…

I’ll admit, I’m sometimes at a loss when there are several different settings of a tune. Is it OK to choose a setting based on difficulty/key/preference - especially when you’re not familiar with the tune’s history and wouldn’t know if something is missing or incorrect?

You can learn any version you like, Robyn, that’s entirely up to your own preferences. All I am pointing out is that any Scottish musician playing this tune would be far more likely to play version #3 above rather than versions #1 or #2. Actually, it’s a tune which was much more popular in the 1980s - I haven’t heard anyone play it in years [ in Scotland ]. I would always recommend you learn a Scottish pipe tune from pipers - I do not recommend many of the bagpipe tunes posted here on this website as a reliable source.

Thank you, Kenny. It was actually a piper who inspired me to look for this: he’d been asked to play it for a concert and sent me a recording. My reaction was, right - I’m going to play this as well! I completely understand your first comment, too; I just took the chance to ask a question which arose. I’ll pick and choose settings with a clear conscience now, thank you ;)

I don’t have Neil’s original book, but I think this is fairly close to the original. There is a very odd third part in Scots Guards III which I have never heard played, and I hope I never do. Written in 2/4, because that’s how I like these things.

“Written in 2/4, because that’s how I like these things.”

But perhaps, others don’t?

Good to get the third part sorted, though (I’m not keen on the two bars of 3/4 in the third setting) - I guess the Scots Guards don’t like syncopation.

> But perhaps, others don’t?

Yes, so I see, Donald. I have to say it rather puts me off contributing when I put up something with my name against it and come back to find that it has been messed about with. It’s one thing fixing an obvious howler, but in this case blatant changes have been made, in silence.

“I have to say it rather puts me off contributing when I put up something with my name against it and come back to find that it has been messed about with.”

I think every one of the tunes which I have submitted has been changed, Calum. I don’t agree with it, but I guess we just have to thole it.

“I think every one of the tunes which I have submitted has been changed”

Typically start repeats are added at the beginning and double barlines replace final barlines. I think it’s to do with making it better for tunes added into sets so they play properly.

Usually, I don’t like to interfere with other members’ submissions.

However, many of mine get edited too but we always get notified these days. I will sometimes contact the person responsible if I’m not sure what he or she has done but if the reason is mentioned in the comments that’s obviously helpful and usually suffices.

I note that Jeremy changes quite a few and it is often very subtle. Just a slight difference in spacing or “coding” which usually doesn’t affect the dots as such but is likely important for the purposes of the “abc” notation itself and the midi.

I think it’s only Jeremy and yourself that can edit the abc of your submissions, Johnny. Titles, tune types and composers can be edited by anyone.

Ah, you’re right.

That makes sense.
Could changing the tune type not affect the time signature though unless you only get limited options? i.e. only to another tune type with the same TS…. e.g. a strathspey to a reel etc.

Just to clarify: when I edit the ABC, the notes of the tune itself are never changed: only small formatting things, like adding explicit repeat marks at the beginning of a section (so that the audio playback works correctly).

You changed the note lengths, time signature, removed a set of volta brackets from the first two parts and introduced a frankly misleading crotchet rest (in a GHB tune!). Glad to hear the audio playback works though.